I am learning a lot about the business that, had I not gone through this process, I wouldn’t have learned nearly as much.

@Karin RecaldeWhere are you in the process now?

You'll find much greater difference in $$$$$ by refining your location/rehab/vacancy strategies instead of worrying about "how much it costs to borrow money" in this environment.Nearly all of my clients are more concerned with a simple and headache-free funding process, than the "lowest rate."

Lenders desperately need/want business especially in this interest rate environment (right now, the main source of mortgage loan business in Florida is rehab financing as a result of the hurricane damages) and one way the big players differentiate themselves is by streamlining the process.

Depending on the volume you would be submitting, find a company that does not have high monthly minimums and can walk you through the process if this is your first time using.

Though, this process will be the same for the other state (if you created a CA LLC you may need to register it as a foreign LLC in the state in which you are doing business/holding property).

However, we will likely need a property manager to assist with some facets of running this rental (since we would not live locally) and would primarily market it through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO to start, (eventually setting up a direct booking process).Here's our question for those who have experience in STR's or who might be involved in a similar scenario: How challenging is it to meet the material participation hours needed to achieve active status?

I have a list of about 20 properties from him, I just don't know how to start to the assessing process.  

Evaluate the situation to see if you could have done anything differently to mitigate the loss and implement changes to your processes, but know that this happens and hoepfully just not too close together. 

We have created work instructions for every step of the process so we can maintain consistency in how we evaluate properties, communicate with tenants, market our properties, handle rent increases, manage property turnover, etc.....